Mount St. Helens, May 18th, 1980

I’d write my own little summary about today being the 30th anniversary of Mount St. Helens, but Boston.com couldn’t have done it better. They have a lot more amazing pictures, so be sure to click here.

On May 18th, 1980, thirty years ago today, at 8:32 a.m., the ground shook beneath Mount St. Helens in Washington state as a magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck, setting off one of the largest landslides in recorded history – the entire north slope of the volcano slid away. As the land moved, it exposed the superheated core of the volcano setting off gigantic explosions and eruptions of steam, ash and rock debris. The blast was heard hundreds of miles away, the pressure wave flattened entire forests, the heat melted glaciers and set off destructive mudflows, and 57 people lost their lives. The erupting ash column shot up 80,000 feet into the atmosphere for over 10 hours, depositing ash across Eastern Washington and 10 other states.

2 Responses to Mount St. Helens, May 18th, 1980

Ya’ll should also check out the feature article in the latest National Geographic about the rebirth of the Mount St. Helens wilderness which also, in true NG fashion, is accompanied by some amazing photography.